MBB: College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin

[Gregory Sager]

I'm pretty sure that they're the only two D3 coaches who've done that.

[Mr. Ypsi]

The CCIW has had a team in the Final 4 the last two seasons...and neither was the regular season conference champion.

Only one of the last five CCIW teams to make the Final Four was a conference champion (Carthage, '02).

In fact, of the last nine times that the CCIW has had multiple teams in the tourney, on six of those occasions a team other than the conference champion has gone deeper into the tourney than the champion. And another year ('05) both representatives got knocked out in the same round (the first, alas). Only twice has the champion been the last CCIW team standing.

This has long been one of my favorites for showing the depth (and cannibalism) of the CCIW.  In 1996, IWU was second in the conference, second in the nation.  (In 1997, they were first in both! )  In 2001, IWU was 3rd in the conference, 3rd in the nation.  In 2006, IWU was in a three-way tie for 2nd in the conference; finished 3rd in the nation.  In 2012, IWU was 3rd in the conference, a FF team (there is no longer a 3rd place game).

[kiko]

I'm going to have to disagree on the 'good broadcasting pair' thing.  They were easier on the ears than a couple of excitable students, but must have been broadcasting a different game than I was watching.

Mostly it was a case of forcing themes and conclusions where none were present:

- Early on they declared that Gamble was the only weapon who'd asserted himself for the Cardinals at a point in time where he had a grand total of two points.

- Later they were singing the praises of Joey Kizel and his ten points as the offensive force in the game.  Kmiec had at least an equal number of points at the time.

- Early in the second half they decided that Kmiec was the only weapon the Cards had while Gamble had crossed into double digits and was steadily building to his 19-point total.

- Later they said both teams were doing a good job of limiting the opposing offenses to just one shot at the end of a sequence where one of the teams (I forget which) had just had a three-shot possession.

Etc. etc. etc.  I don't expect them to realize that it's not Derek Raridon's style to assert himself from the get-go.  And it was lazy commentary to talk about how cold Middlebury was in the second half without noting how strong the Redbirds are nationally in both defensive scoring and defensive FG percentage, but again, they were seeing the Flatlanders for the first time.   Then there was the Colonial States Athletic Conference thing.  (First clue: Illinois was not a colony back in the day, fellas.)

All in all, I found them pleasant to listen to but empty of any sort of insight.

That's overstating it. Did you watch any of the other games?

They did tend to get swept away by whatever it was that they had just seen, and then build a conclusive statement off of it that was not supported by the overall evidence. But keep in mind that NCC vs. Midd was the fourth game of the day for that crew. On balance, they did a good job.

They did provide some decent moments of insight in the fourth game -- noting the effectiveness of NCC's flex screen up top, focusing in the first half about how Raridon was not only not shooting the ball, he wasn't even touching the ball, and discussing how effective Midd's interior passing was among its bigs.

But, yeah, as TitansIWU said, they were somewhat confused by the end of their fourth game of the day. I watched all four games, and my statement that they're a decent pair reflects the balance of the day's work.

At one point late the color guy said that North Central didn't have that much talent on the roster...basically that they just played really hard and well together!!

I must've missed that comment.

This reminded me of another one.  First they noted that the Cards weren't a deep team, and then observed that the Birds were reaching deep into their bench with nine guys seeing action in the opening ten minutes.  Looked like pretty much the normal rotation to me.

But yes, there was a comment that was the equivalent of 'well, they don't look like much, but they sure do play hard'.

I didn't understand where they were going with their comments about NCC's depth. But you and other Cards fans may be too close to this. A telling comment about North Central came on the Hoopsville pregame when Chicago head coach Mike McGrath said about the Cards, "They don't really pass the eye test. But they can find any number of ways to beat you."

Quite honestly, Amherst is a much flashier team that produces more oohs and aahs. But I'm not sure that the Lord Jeffs are going to prevail tomorrow night, because I think Mike McGrath hit it on the nose.

I watched four games today.  And I'm going to stand by the assertion that they were not particularly strong.

As I noted in my original comment, I'll give them a pass on stuff that is in the weeds for the eighth unfamiliar team they've seen in a ten-hour span.  But if you contradict yourself and then ignore it, it really detracts from your effectiveness IMO.

[kiko]

BTW, I know today is supposed to be all hoops all the time, but if you like that whole Human Drama of Athletic Competition thing, check out the U.S.-Costa Rica World Cup qualifier.  They're playing in a blizzard in Denver.

[Gregory Sager]

In 1996, IWU was second in the conference, second in the nation.  (In 1997, they were first in both! )

To counter your incessant Wesleyan boosterism , I'd mention that North Park won the conference all five times that the Vikings ... ah, but I can't go there. Apparently, AO is keeping track of how many times a certain fivefold accomplishment gets mentioned on d3boards.com, and we don't want to run afoul of anyone wielding a clicker, now, do we?

[Mr. Ypsi]

In 1996, IWU was second in the conference, second in the nation.  (In 1997, they were first in both! )

To counter your incessant Wesleyan boosterism , I'd mention that North Park won the conference all five times that the Vikings ... ah, but I can't go there. Apparently, AO is keeping track of how many times a certain fivefold accomplishment gets mentioned on d3boards.com, and we don't want to run afoul of anyone wielding a clicker, now, do we?

The heck with it - I am inordinately proud (as an IWU supporter first, but a CCIW supporter second) of North Park's FIVE national titles.

Here's hoping that NCC can add a seventh national title to the conference record!

(At which point I can note that there is no compelling evidence that IWU wasn't the second best team in the country! )

[Greenguy]

Congrats NCC.  You are doing the CCIW proud.  Best of luck tomorrow!!!

[Gregory Sager]

In 1996, IWU was second in the conference, second in the nation.  (In 1997, they were first in both! )

To counter your incessant Wesleyan boosterism , I'd mention that North Park won the conference all five times that the Vikings ... ah, but I can't go there. Apparently, AO is keeping track of how many times a certain fivefold accomplishment gets mentioned on d3boards.com, and we don't want to run afoul of anyone wielding a clicker, now, do we?

The heck with it - I am inordinately proud (as an IWU supporter first, but a CCIW supporter second) of North Park's FIVE national titles.

Here's hoping that NCC can add a seventh national title to the conference record!

(At which point I can note that there is no compelling evidence that IWU wasn't the second best team in the country! )

Chuck, if we could only find some distinction more noteworthy for Northwestern College, other than that it's the second-most likely college to come to anybody's mind whenever Billy Graham's name is mentioned, perhaps AO could find something more constructive to do with his clicker.

[Mr. Ypsi]

Since the Big Ten's Northwestern is a university, perhaps that they are the most famous Northwestern College in the midwest?

[Dave 'd-mac' McHugh]

They just did it again.

Guys, the Colonial States Athletic Conference is Cabrini's league. North Central's in a completely different time zone.

Despite that, this is a pretty good pair of broadcasters.

broadcasters were decent.  Buffering a little disappointing for these games.  Cutting off two consecutive broadcaster before the game was over --- amateur!

In my experience being on this crew last year and talking with the webstreamers... cutting off the broadcasters before the broadcast is over not the crew there or the broadcasters... that is something that is happening back at home base. I know this was brought up last year and it didn't happen. Last year, they cut us off almost immediately after the title and no one even got a chance to see the trophy (they at least solved this on the women's side, I think, this year). Not one person on the entire broadcast group doing the game knew Turner had done this.

[AndOne]

Has NCC played anyone that plays as fast paced as Amherst?

I have them around 76 possessions per game, I don't think anyone in the CCIW was that high.

Not sure of the number of possessions that they average, but Ramapo, who the Cardinals played in the D3Hoops.Com Classic in Las Vegas in December is a very quick team. Ramapo was ranked #10 at the time, and the Cardinals topped them by 10.

[AndOne]

Has Coach Raridon now taken two different schools to the D3 Final Four?  Bosko has.  How unique is that?

Todd Raridon's 1996-97 Nebraska Wesleyan team finished 2nd. In 15 years at NWU he was 269-125.
His first year at North Central was 2004-05.

[AO]

In 1996, IWU was second in the conference, second in the nation.  (In 1997, they were first in both! )

To counter your incessant Wesleyan boosterism , I'd mention that North Park won the conference all five times that the Vikings ... ah, but I can't go there. Apparently, AO is keeping track of how many times a certain fivefold accomplishment gets mentioned on d3boards.com, and we don't want to run afoul of anyone wielding a clicker, now, do we?

The heck with it - I am inordinately proud (as an IWU supporter first, but a CCIW supporter second) of North Park's FIVE national titles.

Here's hoping that NCC can add a seventh national title to the conference record!

(At which point I can note that there is no compelling evidence that IWU wasn't the second best team in the country! )

Chuck, if we could only find some distinction more noteworthy for Northwestern College, other than that it's the second-most likely college to come to anybody's mind whenever Billy Graham's name is mentioned, perhaps AO could find something more constructive to do with his clicker.

I'd like to pretend that I went back and counted your posts referencing the North Park titles, but really I'm just counting every post as a mention as you provided the title years below your moniker.  maybe you knew that

Since the Big Ten's Northwestern is a university, perhaps that they are the most famous Northwestern College in the midwest?

A name change is in the works, and apparently has already been chosen by the Trustees, just not revealed yet to the public.  Odds are it will be Northwestern Christian University, but Billy University or Graham U had to get some consideration.

also, Go Cardinals! all the North-Direction schools would love to see the NESCAC shown the door.

[iwu70]

Indeed, time to completely and thoroughly show the NESCAC schools the door.

Good luck to NCC tomorrow.  Keep it rolling.

IWU70

P.S.  Here in Hong Kong this weekend, it's Rugby Sevens time, so 40,000+ crazed rugby fans from all over the world here to enjoy the best rugby tournament in the world, bar none, for three full days.  Some great rugby!!!  Also a great time, should you have a young daughter, to keep her at home all weekend.  Don't know the tally, but surely would be more beer consumed per capita than at any other sporting event in the world.  Great rugby, but also a lot of crude and loutish behavior.  The Yanks and the local Hong Kong team are minnows, so best to watch the true powers of the rugby world:  New Zealand, Samoa, Australia, South Africa (though not this year!), and FIJI!  Russia and Argentina look surprisingly good this year, so far.   A great time will be had by all . . . and one huge hangover will be common in Hong Kong on Monday.  Go FIJI! 

[Titan Q]

#2 Amherst vs #3 North Central, 7:30pm (Central)...


Amherst (28-2, 10-0 NESCAC, 1st)
G - Aaron Toomey, 6-1/170 Jr - 17.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 5.1 apg, 2.5 A/TO
G - Tom Killian, 6-4/180 Jr - 7.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg
F - Willy Workman, 6-6/195 Sr - 12.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 4.0 apg
F - Allen Wiliamson, 6-4/201 Sr - 11.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg
C - Peter Kaasila, 6-9/260 Sr - 13.1 ppg, 6.1 rpg

G - David Kalema, 6-0/170 Jr - 9.2 ppg, 2.7 rpg
F - Ben Pollack, 6-7/225 Fr -  4.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg
G - Connor Green, 6-4/195 Fr - 9.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg


North Central (28-3, 11-3 CCIW, 2nd)
G - Pat Rourke, 6-3/155 Jr - 3.4 ppg, 1.1 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.8 A/TO
G - Vince Kmiec, 6-4/185 Jr - 11.1 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 1.7 apg
F - Derek Raridon, 6-6/190 Sr - 14.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.6 apg
F - Aaron Tiknis, 6-6/200 Sr - 9.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.4 apg
C - Landon Gamble, 6-6/240 Jr - 14.3ppg, 5.8 rpg

F - Jack Burchett, 6-6/205 So - 5.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg
F - Charlie Rosenberg, 6-5/230 Jr - 4.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg
G - Brandon Williams, 6-1/170 Jr - 3.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.6 apg
G - Jack Merrithey, 5-9/145 So - 3.1 ppg


Tournament roads...

Amherst
Round 1 - bye
Round 2 - Plattsburgh St, 89-67
Round 3 - Randolph-Macon, 93-76
Round 4 - Cabrini, 101-82

North Central
Round 1 - Centre, 66-50
Round 2 - #5 UW-Whitewater, 64-60
Round 3 - #10 Illinois Wesleyan, 83-73
Round 4 - #7 Middlebury, 77-65


Massey ratings: North Central #2, Amherst #5